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Thursday, September 22, 2011

Mozzarella & Chilli Bruschetta

I'm a cheese fanatic! I absolutely love it and if I had to choose between cheese and desserts for the rest of my life I would choose cheese – hands down! (Although don't get me wrong, I do love desserts, I just love cheese that much!) Whenever I'm asked what my favourite cheese is though I really struggle but what I can say is that Mozzarella – that is good quality mozzarella – is definitely up there at the top! Tomato and Mozzarella Salad is my favourite salad by far and I really struggle not to order it if I see it on the menu, so of course Bruschetta with Mozzarella on it is really a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned!

And then there is chilli.....for those of you that know me, and those of you that are regular readers of my blog, you know I love chillies! I think it has actually turned into a bit of an addiction if that's possible. I don't claim to be someone who can eat insanely hot curries or chicken wings but I do like heat so the combination of mild, soft and milky mozzarella spiked with the fresh warming heat of a chilli is a match made in heaven. My chillies were a little late in ripening this year (what isn't after the summer we've had here)but they are finally turning vibrant, fiery red so this is without doubt the best time to eat this delicious bruschetta. For the photographs here I was lucky enough to get a combination of red, yellow and orange chillies which makes it even more special than it already is. Use whatever you can get but try and keep an eye out for different colours and types of chillies.

So here you have it....another one of my all time favourite recipes with 2 of my favourite ingredients.

Serves 4

8 slices of ciabatta bread

Olive oil

1 clove of garlic, sliced in half

2 balls of mozzarella

2 chillies, finely chopped

Maldon salt

Small basil leaves

Good quality extra virgin olive oil

Drizzle a little oil over both sides of the ciabatta and grill until golden (I use my paninni press for perfect char lines, that plus it's easy!). Once the ciabatta is toasted rub a little garlic on one side – you don't need much for the taste to get through. After that all you have to do is tear or cut the mozzarella and top each slice of ciabatta with it. Scatter over the chopped chillies then finish with a good pinch of Maldon salt (or other finishing salt), a few small basil leaves and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Easy and so delicious!

Nava - welcome to the chilli club! Good to know Im not alone with the chilli addiction! I'm actually thinking of maybe starting a monthly chilli challenge that everyone can take part in featuring different chillies....let me know if you would be interested.

Mom Chef - Good choice with the Brie - another top one for me! Its so good by itself but bake me some brie and I am a happy girl!! Love the thought of the chillies looking like gems....I had been thinking chilli confetti but gems are so much more lavish! Love it!

Yum - you're quite right, silky creamy mozzarella and punchy chilli is a combo that's hard to beat! I was about to shriek with jealous indignation when you said that your chillies were ripening but then I saw the caption - INDOOR plant - and breathed a sigh of relief: my outdoor chillies are still resolutely green thanks to the rotten weather!

Souperior - Yes that is my indoor plant but Im afraid to say I've pretty much harvested all of my outdoor ones! Im just waiting for Thai chillies to turn red - they are the last ones but I have a huge sandwich bag filled with chillies just waiting to be used! Hopefully yours ripen soon - they will continue to change colour once you pick them but I know what you mean, our summer wasn't great either!

Thank you Buttercream Blondie & Lindselicious - it is delicious and even more so with a nice glass of wine!

MeLikeyUK - Honestly I literally just water it when it needs it and keep it in a sunny spot and it seems to do ok! It didn't produce as much as the outside one and all the new buds died but I think it's just that time of year and unfortunately impossible to keep them producing all year round...Im going to keep trying though!